Background

I’ll say it again, a week after my Arby’s Bourbon review… I’m a sucker for a gimmick. So when a friend posted in our local chat that Buffalo Wild Wings had a Bulleit Bourbon BBQ sauce it felt like a divine signal. My high school days are filled with fond memories of TGI Friday’s Jack Daniel’s Sauce. I would certainly reach for a pour of Bulleit before I reach for a pour of Jack… ipso facto- I felt honor bound to pummel a Saturday hangover with Bulleit Bourbon BBQ sauce and bring my review to the masses.

Now, my fellow D/M/V residents may know, there is a single B Dubs in the District and it lies within spitting distance of Nationals Park. When this location opened in 2015, it was an unexciting yet somewhat necessary food option in a neighborhood that was undergoing rapid development. Since then, virtually every superior local restaurant has decided to open on a location on this now crammed block. This has left this particular Buffalo Wild Wings as inarguably the worst possible place to eat with the ballpark in sight. Hell, Nats Park itself has even significantly upped its game in the intervening years. Time has passed this poor Buffalo Wild Wings by, and it shows.

They were nigh sold out of beer. Beer! This is a BUFFALO WILD WINGS. Bud Light, Miller Light, Michelob Ultra, Modelo, Yuengling, most of the IPAs, and more. Beer, and specifically light beer, is a core competency for a chain sports bar! As the waitress recounts the lack of options, a friend mumbles under his breath “what are we at war?” One of the scant few options was a Goose Island “Wild Herd'' Kolsch, which I assume is some co-branded monstrosity (get it, herd, buffalo) but I’m too lazy to look it up. Also, since I am riddled with hangover self-loathing I make the most self-loathingist of choices- the wings will be boneless. Minimal effort as I soak up my sorrows in what will hopefully be the sweet release of Bulleit Bourbon BBQ sauce. The decrepit looking boneless wings (nuggets?) arrive, and it’s time to review…

Bulleit Bourbon BBQ Sauce (NAS but likely prepared hours ago and parked under a heat lamp, 0 Proof)

Nose: Maybe… MAYBE I can tell myself it has a slightly oak-forward BBQ scent, but it mostly just smells like Sweet Baby Rays or some other, fairly generic, BBQ sauce. I am searching for any tell hints of a more unique scent profile but alas, one does not arrive.

Palate: It's sweet, sticky BBQ sauce. Somewhat brown sugary and with a mildly grainy texture. I wish I could say it's more interesting than that, but of our sad tray of four wing flavors, it's absolutely the most mundane. It’s even absent something like a mesquite flavor or something that gives it a bit more of an artisan touch. I’m now honestly regretting not ordering any type of base BBQ to compare.

Finish: Oh there was BBQ sauce on these wings? You would not know it from the last few chews, which are somehow devoid of flavor and all you get is unseasoned cooked chicken. It's like the sauce evaporates. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

Poor (2/10)

Overall: Hard pass. I implore you to drink Bulleit instead of eating it, and if you find yourself anywhere near this location in DC just remember… Bonchon is a mere two blocks away.